insects

From:

Gayle Callis

Grasshoppers, and it was less than satisfactory as chitin outer shell
(body) was tough. I did longer processing in VIP with vacuum/pressure, 2
hours per station in all dehydrants, clearing and 4 paraffins, same as
processing decalcified rat femurs, and used harder paraffin, Tissue Prep 2
was the paraffin for infiltration and embedding. High profile disposable
blades helped, a bit sturdier.
Try some soaks during cutting using Tween 20, Molliflex is supposed to be a
good one. I think an enzyme presoak (Biz detergent, there is now a liquid
one available) might work too, since chitin is a sugar bound to protein,
very simplistic description.
I think if I had to do it over, polymethylmethacrylate would be the choice.
Have done water fleas in GMA, but these are really tiny things.
Gayle Callis
MT,HT,HTL(ASCP)
Histopathology Supervisor
Veterinary Molecular Biology - Marsh Lab
Montana State University - Bozeman
19th and Lincoln St
Bozeman MT 59717-3610
406 994-6367
406 994-4303 (FAX)